Gold Mine Processing Manager Kelly Noble recommends Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri.
This is an excellent collection of short stories that offer insight into the hard and difficult lives of immigrants. Strangers are always the foreigner, different from you and never truly fitting in to the dominant culture. Lahiri writes about all the normal things that seem to always crop up in the news about the immigrant experience.
Families arrive in a new country wanting a better life only to find the path forward littered with obstacles, violence, and prejudices.
In “The Boundary,” we see an immigrant family working as caretakers in the countryside. This caretaker family, immigrants from an unknown land, used to live in the city, but after the father was robbed and beaten by local men, the family moved to a more isolated place. Unfortunately, the countryside, with its small towns, rarely ever provides a safer community. The mother dislikes living there since the people are less friendly than in the city. The whole story depicts vacationing families that come to enjoy the open air and beaches. Yet, the immigrant family sees no joy in the place. They only came to escape the violence and discrimination of Rome.
They are constantly reminded that they are different and do not truly belong. They are foreigners in someone else land no matter where they live.
Many of the stories in this collection focus on the struggle to adapt to a new culture. The immigrants came for a better life, but find it impossible to fit in. Many immigrants want to preserve elements from their past lives and culture, yet those elements, such as the way one dresses, do not mix well in the new culture. The wearing of head scarves is a case in point.
Lahiri does not paint a pretty picture of the Italian society. Immigrants are not treated well and are blamed from many ills of the city.
In Well-Lit House, a father tries to find better housing for his family. He ends up in a government sponsored apartment, but only to find all the neighbors do not think that immigrants should be allowed to live there. After weeks of harassment, the father sends his wife and children back to their original country as he looks for a safer place for the family to live.
Lahiri centers most of the stories in or around Rome, but the message fits about anywhere where migrants arrive. The same problems occur here in Idaho. Fiction reflects real life and real life is not always pretty. This collection is Jhumpa Lahiri writing at her best. Roman Stories is highly recommended.
